The idea of Vocational Rehabilitation (VR) has been around since the end of World War I. But for the Deaf/HH it began with the Rehabilitation Act of 1965 (and then was reauthorized and updated multiple times, the biggest modifications in 1973). The goal was to assist those with disabilities by providing additional support in obtaining employment (and those who had lost employment to re-train and find new jobs).

The "Rehab Act of 1965" (as Deaf and Accessibility lawyers know it), expanded the idea of who qualified as "disabled", allowed Rehabilitation Counselors more leeway in serving people with vocational handicaps, and removed "economic need" as a criteria for receiving services.

The catch-22 was that many Deaf people did not see their deafness as a “disability”. Instead, they considered themselves a Cultural and Linguistic Minority in America! Sometimes they had to accept the double-edged sword that was their hearing loss and their cultural pride. VR monies were only given if they declared their disability and asked for help, which meant swallowing their cultural and linguistic pride on many occasions. This oppressive either/or decision (be "in the system" and forever perceived as impaired, broken, and inferior vs. being independent, proud, and self-deterministic) caused a lot of consternation for proud Deaf of Deaf (of Deaf...) families and those members who found true community, acceptance, and belonging in the American Deaf Community.

(It could also have led up to the turning of the tides and the loud/visible need to stand up and declare pride and independence during the Deaf President Now protest of 1988 at Gallaudet University!) —Musings by Bob.

If Deaf identified as "Disabled", they could receive accommodations under the law; be recognized as needing a more “level playing field”/entitled to support.

If they refused and were defiantly Deaf, they ran the risk of being seen as “unable” and “incompetent”, in need of help; to be pitied; considered inferior to “normal” people.

Question: What sort of perks do Deaf clients receive when signing up with DOR/VR services?

Answer: VR—supports pre-employment needs (1st time college/university [typically 4-yr degrees and sometimes Graduate/MA degrees if they're seen as "terminal" and necessary to work within a certain field], trade skills, job training, professional development, re-training, and remedial education), as well as interview skills/resumé building, and access to a whole host of networked job leads.

DOR/VR provides communication access and support for employers who might be hesitant to hire Deaf individuals due to the seeming "exorbitant costs" of hiring ASL-English Interpreters. Provision of interpreters for Interviews, On-the-Job Training (OJT), and regular staff meeting/in-services for a limited time (first 30 days, 60 days, 90 days, etc.) can help encourage employers to fully appreciate the positives of hiring Deaf/HH candidates as full-time employees. During the probationary periods, DOR/VR may continue to educate the employer about the eventual need to take over provision and payment of interpreting services for future staff meetings, annual trainings, all-hands events, etc., and recognize that in many cases, interpreters are not needed all day long for most Deaf/HH employees.

If laid off, fired, or promoted, DOR/VR can also provide "return to school" options for the rest of the VR client's life, including re-training and continuing education support, as needed.

Question: What are the downsides to Deaf/HH people signing up to work with DOR/VR for employment?

Answer: Being labeled as "deaf" or "hearing impaired" (which is the legal and medical term for someone who has issues hearing, regardless that "Deaf" is the culturally and politically correct term for the ASL-native/-fluent individual who is part of the American Deaf Community!); not being provided ASL-English Interpreters upon request; not being provided competent/qualified/certified ASL-English Interpreters upon request; forever being forgotten during verbal announcements, water-cooler discussions, office gossip, and general knowledge content that people overhear in the workplace; being seen as a budgetary constraint and burden, rather than as a productive and qualified employee.

Higher-level/professional positions where DHH employees may need "escort interpreters" or full-time "staff interpreters" may also be broached by DOR/VR early on during the interview and application process so that everyone is aware that the hiring and payment/support of the interpreter(s) is completely on the employer to provide, and such monies cannot be "deducted from" the hired employee's eventual salary.

Stating this doesn't always dissuade the business from trying to reduce the salary offered to a Deaf/HH consumer though...and sometimes DHH employees may find out later that they make considerably less than their hearing counterparts because they are undervalued by their company and/or part of their salary is being shunted off to the budget line item paying for ASL-English Interpreters!

THIS.IS.ILLEGAL. (The business probably won't admit to such shenanigans...but it happens, and can't be proven by most DHH employees.) :-(

They are more often overlooked for promotions (vertical or lateral), with job expectations and duties sometimes capped due to supervisor or manager unconscious bias assuming "deaf can't" rather than "Deaf Can (everything, except hear!)".

Question: Is that all for the negatives?

Answer: Some Deaf/HH people may already be "in the system" and receiving Social Security Disability Insurance (either because they were not employed after high school, or not connected to DOR/VR prior to graduation from high school). Receiving SSDI benefits requires that the person verify and attest that they cannot work full-time employment due to a life-activity-limiting disability, which is not always the case for DHH people. If the DHH person does work part-time, s/he/they must limit their income from such employment, as the additional income must be reported monthly. Too much income indicates that they CAN work and support themselves, which would reduce or remove their SSDI benefits. Too little income, and it may be impossible to support oneself in areas where the cost of living is much higher (CA, NY, WA, etc.)!

DHH people can easily fall through "cracks in the system" and get into downward-spiraling situations that don't allow for upward mobility, self-determination, gainful employment, or other independence options that many hearing/sighted people take for granted. (And there are the minority few who know how to "game the system"— staying pregnant, under-reporting earnings, working "under the table" for cash only, and not paying taxes, etc., just as there are in every culture and community! Those few give the rest a bad name and negative stereotypes!)

Question: Ultimately, why would a DHH person want to go through the Vocational Rehabilitation (VR) System in America?

Answer: For some DHH consumers, they may not have had adequate schooling K-12, so are delayed, compared to their hearing counterparts. This makes them much less marketable for subsistence-wage employment! Add on to the fact that they'll probably request interpreters for job interviews (tipping off to the employer the fact that they're "deaf" and in need of accommodations...and therefore being equated to $$$ paid up front as a loss!), and DHH applicants are pre-screened out of employment very quickly. This pre-screening and refusal to even see past a DHH applicant's "deafness" is a dirty-little-secret of many supervisors and lower-level managers who probably don't even know that what they're doing IS employment discrimination..."ILLEGAL".

Most DHH can never prove that they've been discriminated against, because they're never called back for an initial interview. Having DOR/VR services on their side means that the employers lined up to interview the DHH consumers already know (and are willing!) to provide a leg up and priority interviewing, training, and consideration for Deaf, Blind, multiply-disabled, and other-abled individuals. DOR/VR helps to level that employment landmine field which is difficult for hearing/sighted people to navigate!

DHH consumers working alongside DOR/VR services get to work with businesses who want them. The businesses get the perk of inclusion and diversity, while the DHH consumers get employment, benefits, job security, and will be working with co-workers and managers who understand them and their needs.

Other DHH consumers who are more savvy and bilingual/bicultural (or multilingual/multicultural!) may be able to positively leverage the DOR/VR system to their advantage! One friend of mine was able to go back to school to get her BA and MA in Counseling, since an MA is an entry-level degree for such a career! DOR in California paid for her 4 years of college, including books, fees, and even helped subsidize interpreters for the first few years! Then they continued to pay for the MA program she wanted (again including books, fees, and more specialized interpreters who had knowledge and experience with these upper-level post-graduate courses!).

She also needed a specialty and was able to do several workshops and "therapy" certificate programs during her MA studies (Marriage and Family Counseling Certification, EMDR Therapy, "Seeking Safety" Curriculum & Therapeutic Approaches, etc.). DOR paid for her to attend the entirety of these trainings AND helped to pay for her interpreters (since many of these workshops were hosted by private practice therapists who wouldn't be able to pay for a team of 2 interpreters for a 2-3 day conference, a 10-week all-day Saturday training course, or even an on-going 6-month "internship" and supervision course-study!).

DOR/VR set her up to not only get the foundational knowledge and specializations under her belt, she was also able to network and interact with her peers and colleagues, both in school/workshops, and in her region. This helped equip her to establish a network of referrals, trusted colleagues, and case-conferencing supervisory mentors who would be there in the long-term.

Question: Anything else?

Answer: One thing to consider is the idea that Abled and Disabled is not really the most politically correct (or accurate) perspective on the human life cycle and how illness/injury/health are manifest in everyone around us. Instead, some social justice writers and researchers are challenging those who work with and for the "disability field" to reframe the conversation to: Disabled and Not-Yet Disabled.

Afterall, everyone has some sort of ability AND disability when compared to other people. And if we all live long enough, the aging human condition is disability and breaking-down/infirmity. We are all on a trajectory towards "not being able" in our futures, if we're not already born with a disability.

Seeing that everyone will become disabled (or die), maybe the new lens is to increase focus towards Universal Design, more diverse and better inclusion efforts, and a recognition that providing for EVERYONE should really be the goal of social services, healthcare, and even employment!

Disability History - Disability Center, Colorado State University

California Department Of Rehabilitation (CA DOR)

Disability Language Style Guide - National Center on Disability and Journalism—This resource is for writers, but can apply to learning about more neutral and person-first language. Realize that "Deaf people" (those proud Deaf Americans who use ASL as their first language and see themselves as a cultural and linguistic minority in America) do not prefer person-first language, i.e. "person with deafness" or "person who is Deaf". They are fine with "Deaf Person", as long as "Deaf" is capitalized. Others may have different opinions, so it's always safest to ask first!